Twitter announces ‘Super Follows,’ and not everyone is happy about it

Twitter outlined the Silicon Valley giant’s possible future plans on Thursday, including one feature, Super Follows, that appears to have rubbed some people the wrong way.

Super Follow subscriptions would allow users to monetize their tweets, which, at least for the users who circulated #RIPTwitter after the announcement, it’s clear that it wasn’t high on their wishlist.

The hashtag started trending after the Analyst Day announcement with many people asking how Super Followers might be created before an edit button.

The Verge reports that Super Follows will let Twitter users make money by allowing them to charge for extra content. That premium content could take multiple forms, such as newsletter subscriptions, bonus tweets or entry to a community group and is designed to attract content creators. It’s not yet clear how much users can make through Super Follows, but a slide during the presentation showed a $4.99 monthly subscription model.

Twitter also announced the creation of communities that would allow people with certain interests to share with like-minded users. Tweets about poodles shared within the poodle community, for instance, would stay within that group to allow members to feel comfortable tweeting, regardless of what is happening in the world.

The Silicon Valley company also addressed their work fighting misinformation and user safety, including a new “safety mode” that would allow users to automatically block accounts that break Twitter rules and mute accounts that appear to be “acting abusive or spammy” or targeting users with insults, hateful remarks or name-calling.

It’s not yet clear when the new features will launch.